黑料导航

Seven medical students at the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University (NYITCOM-Arkansas) have been named to the medical school鈥檚 Delta Health Policy Fellowship program.聽

Student Doctors Avery Carter, Jana Dsouza, Kevin Hodson, Angelica Maiers, Antonio Patterson, Taha Muhammad-Ali, and Gina Qualter, all of whom are in their second year, will participate in a robust practicum experience with local, state, and federal leaders that will allow them to contribute to decision-making that will affect the health of communities in Arkansas and across the Delta.

NYITCOM鈥檚 Population Health Fellowship operates through the Delta Population Health Institute (DPHI), which serves as the Jonesboro-based medical school鈥檚 community engagement arm. 

鈥淭he goal of the fellowship is to equip and train rising osteopathic physicians to transform health, healthcare, and health policy,鈥� said聽Brookshield Laurent, D.O., chair of clinical medicine at NYITCOM-Arkansas and the executive director of the DPHI. 鈥淭his fellowship program helps osteopathic medical students learn and utilize their skills in health policy to enhance the osteopathic medical profession and become community health leaders. We鈥檙e extremely proud that these student doctors are committed to making a difference through health policy.鈥澛�

Locally, population health fellows work with Congressman Rick Crawford鈥檚 office where they meet monthly with his staff, and work to identify an area of research, obtain data, and perform on-site visits to help evaluate the different funding streams provided by federal agencies that grant funding to the Mississippi Delta region. Some fellows spend time in Crawford鈥檚 Washington, D.C., office during their fourth year of medical school as well.

鈥淓very year, our health fellows are critical assets to our team as we work on evaluating health policy and funding to ensure the needs of the Delta are being met,鈥� Crawford said. 鈥淭hese student doctors also walk away with a better understanding of federal health programs and how to improve health outcomes of rural Americans. I鈥檓 excited to once again welcome participants in this innovative fellowship program into our Arkansas and Washington offices.鈥�

Throughout their three-year fellowship, the students will be actively engaging leaders throughout the state and region to create tangible results to improve health and wellness in the Delta. Currently, the fellows are focused on improving access to nutritious food, creating better opportunities for those with mental illness, and improving the health of moms and their babies. 

Upon completion of the fellowship, the student physicians will bring a depth of expertise and knowledge about population health and healthcare to the policymaking process while serving as a health policy liaison. 

鈥淪o much of medical education curriculum understandably focuses on clinical aspects, but health starts where we grow, live, learn, work, and play,鈥� Laurent said. 鈥淭hat’s why we are committed to cultivating opportunities for health in our families, neighborhoods, schools, and jobs to achieve greater health equity among all people. Health policy plays such a vital role in that, which is why the fellowship program is so important.鈥�